The Odeon Cinema is a

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

building immediately west of the city centre of

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

, in England. The

Odeon Cinemas Odeon Cinemas Limited, trading as Odeon (stylised in all caps), is a cinema brand name operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway and Greece, which along with UCI Cinemas and Nordic Cinema Group is part of the Odeon Cinemas Group subsi ...

chain was keen to build a cinema in York, but it could not gain permission to construct a large building within the

York city walls York has, since Roman Britain, Roman times, been defended by defensive wall, walls of one form or another. To this day, substantial portions of the walls remain, and York has more miles of intact wall than any other city in England. They are k ...

. Initial plans were toned down, and the resulting building is almost entirely of brown brick, with none of the tiles which often feature in

Harry Weedon Harold William "Harry" Weedon (1887 – 17 June 1970) was an English architect. Although he designed a large number of buildings during a long career, he is best known for his role overseeing the Art Deco designs of the Odeon Cinemas for Oscar ...

's work. Following these changes, permission was granted to build on

Blossom Street Blossom Street is a road in York, in England, immediately west of the city centre. History The street has been the main route leading south and west from York from the Roman Eboracum era onwards; the Roman roads to Calcaria (now Tadcaster) an ...

, just outside the walls. The building opened as an

Odeon Cinema Odeon Cinemas Limited, trading as Odeon (stylised in all caps), is a cinema brand name operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway and Greece, which along with UCI Cinemas and Nordic Cinema Group is part of the Odeon Cinemas Group subsid ...

on 1 February 1937. It was designed by Harry Weedon, with the assistance of Robert Bullivant, and with interiors attributed to Lily Deutsch. The construction cost £40,500. On opening, it had 1,484 seats: 934 in the stalls and 550 on the balcony. In 1972, it was converted to have three screens, with the balcony extended forward to form one 800-seat space and the rear of the former stalls split into two smaller screens, each with 111 seats. It was listed in 1981. Odeon_Cinema_3

The building is in the

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

style, and has a low front range, with a three-storey range behind, a tower to the left, and two-storey wings on either side. Part of the front range is occupied by shops. The tower retains an illuminated "Odeon" sign, rendered in Roman capital letters, not the chain's usual style. Odeon planned to close the cinema in 2003, with a 13,000-name petition leading to a short reprieve. It closed in 2006, but reopened in 2009 as part of the Reel Cinemas chain. In 2017, it was purchased by

Everyman Cinemas Everyman Media Group plc (known as Everyman Cinemas) is a Movie theater, cinema company based in London, England. History The company was founded in 2000, when entrepreneur Daniel Broch bought the Everyman Cinema, Hampstead, original Everyman ...

and renovated to accommodate four screens, each with sofa seating. The official listing notes that "the architecture ... is well designed and executed, and is a good example of Odeon cinema design" and that original windows survive, along with some original design elements and ancillary rooms. John Brooke Fieldhouse describes it as having "... the overall texture of a building belonging to an ancient civilisation".

References

{{coordinates, 53.95488, -1.09314, format=dms, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Art Deco architecture in England Blossom Street Buildings and structures completed in 1937 Cinemas in North Yorkshire Grade II listed buildings in York Grade II listed cinemas Odeon Cinemas